The AirPods work seamlessly with your iPhone, but on macOS, the integration is a little less flashy. The new AirBuddy app ensures that the earbuds work just as well on your Mac (Book) and that you also get some extra functions.
AirBuddy makes your AirPods even better
AirBuddy was created by Guilherme Rambo, editor at the American Apple website 9to5Mac. He doesn’t think the integration of AirPods in macOS is good enough and therefore decided to make a simple app to solve this.
If you use the AirPods with an iPhone, you will see a nice screen every time you open the charging case, where the battery status of the earbuds and the case are shown. Moreover, pairing new AirPods is very simple, and that is different with macOS.
After installing AirBuddy, you will immediately see the settings. You determine where the battery status card should appear on the screen: left, center or right. In addition to the AirPods, other devices equipped with Apple’s W1 chip also work with AirBuddy, such as various Beats headsets.
Once you’ve selected the options, every time you open the AirPods case near your Mac, you’ll see a battery status screen. You can also connect the earbuds with one click. Simple and effective. You almost wonder why Apple hasn’t built this in itself.
In principle, this works very well, although we sometimes had moments when AirBuddy did not respond immediately. After opening the AirPods box a few times, the screen still did not appear and that is annoying. According to maker Rambo, this can happen if your AirPods aren’t close enough, or they’re already connected to another device.
More features on the way
Also useful is that there is an AirBuddy widget for the Notification Center on your Mac. This allows you to check how full your AirPods are, and at the same time you can see how long your Mac will last with the current battery percentage. Even if your iPhone and/or iPad are nearby, you can see how full they are in the widget. Handy, because with a simple click you can immediately check the battery percentage of all your Apple devices.
Guilherme Rambo says on Twitter that he wants to expand AirBuddy with more functionalities in the future. He is thinking of support for the Magic Mouse and Magic Keyboard from Apple. He is also considering adding a function that ensures that you receive notifications when the battery of your AirPods (or another device) is almost empty.
Download AirBuddy for macOS
AirBuddy is not in the Mac App Store, but you can download it via the link below. The app costs 5 dollars, although you can also pay a little more via the website to support the developer. To use AirBuddy, you must have a Mac(Book) with Bluetooth LE and macOS Mojave.